On August 1, 1966 hundreds of policemen rushed to Marquette Park as violence erupted against a group of peaceful marchers protesting unfair housing practices.  Bottles and stones were thrown, windows shattered, cars burned and overturned, and many marchers were injured. The Chicago Freedom Movement was in high gear and its opponents had become riotous.  

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and other civil rights leaders organized the movement with a focus on open housing.  The Chicago Freedom Movement was the first large scale fair housing campaign in the country and the most ambitious civil rights campaign in the North. The Marquette Park march was one of several planned and held in 1965 and 1966 in the Chicago area.  Despite a coordinated effort with the Chicago Police, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, and Ministers of the Chicago Conference on Religion, the peaceful Marquette Park march turned violent when crowds of whites attacked.

    The color photographs featured in this exhibit highlight the events of the fair housing campaign.  They were taken by Bernie Kleina, a Freedom Movement participant who believed the events should be documented and was himself injured when police protection broke down.